Here at ForeclosureHelpSCC.org, we are often asked by motivated home owners that are trying to avoid foreclosure, whether or not they should just try to list their house with a Realtor in order to get it sold, or just let it go and let the bank take any remaining equity that they may still have?

Although the answer may seem like a simple one, we wanted to give our thoughts on this question on our site, so that in the future, people that are facing foreclosure that still have some remaining equity, can have a resource to go to.

Before You Sell: Have you Exhausted All Of Your Options?

After receiving countless phone calls and having been bombarded with letters, both certified and otherwise, by your lender, you may fell like selling is your only option. For some, that’s true, but for others, it’s important not to make a rash decision based on emotion during a stressful financial situation like “potentially loosing your home & any hard earned equity that you may have built over the years”. But if you’ve already explored all of your options with your lender, including a forbearance and even looked at doing a short sale, but the sale date is right around the corner, what other options do you have? Have you considered?

Getting a small loan from your family to pay the amount you are in arrears to your lender in order to bring the loan current?

Consulting with experienced property buyers that have been in the distressed real estate investing business for many years?

Trying to obtain or have your spouse obtain a personal loan from a different bank to pay the arrears?

Tried to do an FHA Streamline Refinance?

Considered renting the house out until you can pay off the total back due interest to your lender?

This isn’t a full list of options, we’re just trying to get the wheels spinning and get your creative juices flowing to see if there is still a way out of the Foreclosure sale.

Before You Sell: Have You Consulted With A Good Attorney?

As obvious as it may seem, most individuals that own single-family residential homes and have had a Lis Pendens filed by the lender (which is a LEGAL law-suit filed against real estate) still prefer not to at least entertain the thought of getting an opinion from an attorney. But why not? Attorneys that are competent in Real Estate Law and have years of experience stopping or at least pausing foreclosures, could surely shed some light on your situation. What do you have to loose but your home? A few hundred dollars or even a free consultation by a good/reliable attorney may be able to help you.

If You Sell: What Is the Best Way To Cash Out of Your Equity Quickly?

Most owners, even the most savvy, think that listing their house with a licensed Realtor or an experience real estate agent/broker will net them the most about of money in the least amount of time in the sale of their home. They assume that agents have pools of buyers just waiting to snatch up their house, just because they posses a real estate license and have paid their dues. Not the case. Actually selling your house when foreclosure is imminent means that you have a strict timeline to move the house. If you listed the house on the MLS, you “may” find a cash buyer within the first few weeks, BUT, you are leaving your future and your equity to chance by taking that route.

But, what if you were able to find your own investor that is seasoned in buying houses in your city, that has the cash on hand to close without inspections? If you’re located in the Lone Star State, and you’re looking for the best way to sell your house for cash in Texas, you’re in luck, cause in that state, there are many experienced real estate investment companies that are ready, willing, and able cash home buyers. If you decided to go that route, you could have your house sold within merely days, not weeks…It’s possible that you wouldn’t even need to postpone foreclosure, cause you’re mortgage lien would be paid off before the sale, if you timed it just right.

Have you found yourself in a position where you are no longer able to make the payment on your mortgage of your home? If that is you, we understand that this may be a very stressful time for you, and that you may be wondering what options are currently available to you as a homeowner in a financially distressed situation.

Right now, we understand that you may be trying to find ways to avoid needing to sell your house in California, fast, so that you can stain your primary residence as long as possible. Fortunately, we have researched thoroughly and found several foreclosure prevention options that, if you qualified for, my help you stop or even prevent the otherwise imminent foreclosure of your property.

Below are 6 options that we think you should look into, that may help to alleviate the burden of your current mortgage payment:

Loan Repayment Plan

If you have only missed a small number of payments, then a loan repayment plan might be the best option for you. In a loan repayment plan you entering into an agreement between you and your lender where your lender adds any back due interest onto the long end your lender gives you a fixed amount of time to repay the loan. If you have missed a very large number of mortgage payments this may not be the best option for you.

Loan Reinstatement

If you feel that your current financial situation is only temporary and not long-term, then a loan reinstatement agreement between you and your lender may be a better option than a loan repayment plan. When your lender agrees to loan reinstatement, they will they will require you to pay any late fees the entire past due amount and any penalties that may have accrued.

Selling Your House

If you’ve already called your lender, spoken with him in detail, and a repayment plan, loan reinstatement, and a short sale are not in your best interest, and selling your house and moving into a short-term living arrangement (e.g. an apartment or town-home or condo) may be in your best interest. Should you decide to sell and use the equity in the property to get back on your feet again, you should first find out how to sell a house fast in 2015.

Short Sale

If you’re fortunate and you have the help of an experienced real estate agent that can negotiate a successful short sale of your property on your behalf. In a short sale transaction, your lender may allow you to sell your house to a retail buyer and forgive the difference between the sales price of the home and your loan balance. Besides not having to pay for any negative equity when selling the house, you may be able to exclude the amount of forgiven debt by your lender to the IRS on your income taxes when you file; This is one of the benefits given to distressed homeowners by the mortgage forgiveness debt relief act that will effect that went into effect in 2007.

Deed in lieu of foreclosure

if you already know that you don’t have very much equity in your home, a deed in lieu of foreclosure might help you quickly get out from under your high mortgage payments, save your credit from the long-term damage effects that a foreclosure would have. In a deed in lieu of foreclosure situation, your lender will let you deed the house into your lender’s name and the remaining debt would essentially be forgiven. In this scenario, you would not be responsible for the remaining debt on your loan for your home, however you will lose any remaining equity that you had in your home at the time that you deed it over to your lender.

Mortgage Forbearance

if you have found yourself in a situation where you only have a temporary reduction of income, then a mortgage for Barents could benefit you greatly. If your lender would agree to a mortgage forbearance, usually based on your income, debt, current financial situation, then you may be able to qualify for a lower monthly payment or a smaller lump sum payment to your lender. Of course, this would only be a shorter-term option because your lender would not agree to terms this lien yet for a long period of time. With a mortgage forbearance agreement in place your lender is giving you the opportunity to get back on your feet, financially, all the while having the ability to continue to live in the home that you’ve worked so hard to pay for.

Loan modification

In many cases, homeowners that are facing financial distress, and know that their financial situation may not change in the short term, they often opt for a permanent loan modification instead of a forbearance or deed in lieu the foreclosure as mentioned above. But what is it about loan modifications that are so attractive? Well, in a loan modification a homeowner that can permanent financial distress could have their interest rate reduced, loan term changed, and/or all miss payments lumped together and added to the back-end of the loan. Lumping all the missed payments and adding them to the back of the loan could significantly help you catch up on your other bills that you may be behind on, by allowing you to make those payments instead of making payments in arrears on your home loan.

Bankruptcy

Many consider bankruptcy a last resort, and it should be a last resort for most people. Bankruptcy is sometimes thought to be an “easy way out” of an already difficult situation, however many people in financial distress file for bankruptcy without understanding all of the repercussions that are associated with it. Among other negatives in bankruptcy, a person’s credit could be greatly adversely affected for many years and could cause problems with obtaining financing for things like: